A man had appealed his conviction for depositing his semen in a female co-worker's water bottle

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A panel of Orange County judges upheld the conviction of a man for putting semen in a co-worker's water bottle.

A three-judge panel made their decision on Tuesday in the case involving Michael Kevin Lallana, who was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of battery with sentencing enhancements for committing a crime for sexual gratification.

Prosecutors said that in 2010 Lallana at least twice deposited his semen into a bottle of a female co-worker at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network who he thought was “very attractive.”

Lallana's attorney, E. Thomas Dunn Jr., had appealed the Feb. 24, 2011 conviction, saying as repugnant as the case was, it was not battery.

But the judges disagreed, citing a case in which the Missouri Court of Appeals said placing semen in a person’s mug constituted “physical contact.”

The judges also said there was sufficient evidence that the case was committed for Lallana’s sexual gratification, citing police interviews with Lallana saying he admitted he found the victim to be “good looking.”

He also told investigators he imagined her drinking the out of the water bottle as the “closest (he) could ever be to … somebody who’s as good looking as that.”

Lallana was sentenced to six months in jail and 3-years formal probation on April 22, 2011.

He was ordered to register as a sex offender for life and was ordered to pay $27,411 in restitution to cover the victim’s lost income and therapy costs, prosecutors said.

Lallana was also issued a stay-away order barring any contact with the victim, officials said.

During Lallana’s sentencing, the victim told the court that his acts caused her to go into depression.

“I had to seek counseling to find a way to get through this period in my life,” she told the court. “The idea that I had Mr. Lallana’s semen in my mouth, without my knowing, against my will, for his sexual pleasure sickens me…I feel that it was a form of rape…”